


Alibi

by robin_writes



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Fluff, Haley and Aaron are Divorced, M/M, Neighbours, alibi for getting out of a date, kinda fake relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 16:47:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14453559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robin_writes/pseuds/robin_writes
Summary: “I’m literally only here to establish an alibi.” A scrawny kid burst into Aaron’s apartment as he was folding laundry. “I’ll be out of your hair in an hour or two.” Aaron was too shocked to realise that the kid was only in his boxers, but once he had gotten over the initial shock, the realisation of the kid’s state of dress hit him.“I’m not sure you want to be here.”“Whatdoyoumean?” The kid said without taking a breath. “I’ve seen you around the building sometimes, you seem like a pretty cool guy.”“I work for the FBI, so if you’re into something illegal, I’m just going to forget about this whole thing."





	Alibi

“I’m literally only here to establish an alibi.” A scrawny kid burst into Aaron’s apartment as he was folding laundry. “I’ll be out of your hair in an hour or two.” Aaron was too shocked to realise that the kid was only in his boxers, but once he had gotten over the initial shock, the realisation of the kid’s state of dress hit him.  
“I’m not sure you want to be here.”  
“Whatdoyoumean?” The kid said without taking a breath. “I’ve seen you around the building sometimes, you seem like a pretty cool guy.”  
“I work for the FBI, so if you’re into something illegal, I’m just going to forget about this whole thing. You should probably go.” Aaron stopped folding a pair of jeans he didn’t wear enough.  
“Oh!” He burst out laughing, bending over, full belly laugh. Aaron couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t mean alibi like I’m a criminal. No!” He said between laughs. “My friend Derek came over because he wanted me to go out to a bar with him. But he always sets me up. So I said I couldn’t because I am…” He mumbled something indistinctly.   
“What that?”  
“I’m…” He mumbled indistinctly again.  
“Come again?”  
“I told him I’m dating my neighbour.” He said, blushing all the way from his collarbone to his forehead.  
“Why did you come here?” Aaron asked, confused. Maybe the kid picked a random apartment. Aaron had seen him around, they had never spoken but Aaron knew the kid lived a few doors down so it wasn’t inconceivable that he had picked a random door to go into.  
“I told you, you seem like a pretty cool guy. I’m Spencer by the way.”  
“Aaron. If you’re staying for a while you might be more comfortable in sweats.” Aaron grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the basket he had abandoned and hung them over the back of the couch. Spencer seemed to notice that he was wearing only boxers and began to blush again.  
“Thanks.” He grabbed the sweats and pulled them on. Even though they were Aaron’s tightest pair, they threatened to fall down from Spencer’s skinny frame. He grabbed the strings, pulled them tight, and then knotted them, securing the pants to his body. Aaron couldn’t help but notice the pants fell just short of Spencer’s hip bone. It jutted out, covered in creamy white skin. Aaron wanted to grab Spencer’s hips just to see if they were so sharp they cut his hands. 

He shook his head to clear the images. “I have to finish up some paperwork, but you’re welcome to the TV.”  
“Thanks.” Spencer moved further into the room, taking a seat on the couch. His tall legs spread out and he seemed to relax. “So ‘House Hunters’ huh?” Spencer smirked.  
“Oh, uh. I wasn’t really watching it.”   
“Sure.” Spencer said, but didn’t turn it over. Aaron left to grab his case files and a pen, but instead of staying in his office where he would usually work, he took the files to sit on the couch next to Spencer.

It turned out that Spencer, too, was a big fan of House Hunters. He criticised the houses openly and chastised the buyers for their poor choices. At one point, there was a couple who obviously wanted the exact opposite kind of house, but Spencer was frustrated by the woman’s meekness and unwillingness to say what she thought. He got to the point where he began shouting at the TV. Aaron tried to keep a straight face. He tried so hard not to laugh, but when Spencer called out “Methink’st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee.”  
“What is that?” Aaron asked, giving up his paperwork.   
“Shakespeare.” Spencer blushed.   
“Shakespeare huh?” He was impressed. From the lack of conversation before today, Aaron had no real idea who Spencer was.   
“I’m distracting you. I’m sorry. I should go.” He stood up and was halfway to the door before Aaron realised what was happening.   
“You’re not.” Spencer stopped. “You’re not distracting me. It’s nice to have company.” When Spencer didn’t respond, Aaron kept talking, stumbling over his tongue. “It’s too quiet normally. I’ve never lived alone until now. I don’t think I like it. Sorry. You should go if you want to.”  
“No. I can stay.” Spencer moved back to the couch, stretching out next to Aaron. “So what do you do at the FBI? No offence but you look like a pencil pusher.”  
“Thanks,” Aaron said sarcastically. “I’m the unit chief of the BAU. I’m far from a pencil pusher.”  
“That’s so cool. I’ve attended a few lectures from David Rossi and a particularly scintillating lecture from Jason Gideon. Do you... do you know them?”  
“I do. Dave was my mentor before he retired and Gideon is a member of my team.”   
“That’s really cool.” Spencer was excited.   
“Yeah. They’re pretty nice guys.” Aaron agreed. Spencer turned his attention back to the TV. A new episode had started and he settled into watching it. Aaron finished up his paperwork and then set it aside in favour of watching the show. 

They got through three more episodes, Aaron also participating in yelling at the screen, before Spencer started to fidget. He didn’t want to be rude but he felt like he had enough social interaction for today. He had reached that point when he felt done. Spencer couldn’t really explain it, but all he wanted now was to climb into bed with a familiar book and a mug of hot tea. “Are you okay?” Aaron asked, noticing Spencer’s nervousness.   
“I have to go back home now. I have a mile high stack of papers to grade before tomorrow.”  
“Sure. Of course. Why didn’t you say earlier? Isn’t that going to take hours?”   
“A few but I’m a quick reader. Thank you for the pants. I’ll wash them and drop them by later.” He stood.   
“I wouldn’t be against you using me as an alibi again.” Aaron smiled. “As long as it’s not against the law.”  
“Right. FBI. Got it.” Spencer smiled and left the apartment. 

There was a cold draught in the hallway, making Spencer shiver. When he got back to his apartment, it felt dark and empty. He sighed. He boiled some water, starting the tea, and went to pick a book. He had dozens of libraries in his head, but he always liked the feel of a book in his hand. The way his eyes followed the words on the pages and the texture of aged paper. 

Once he had settled on a book, he poured the water into a mug and added a tea bag. Spencer considered changing into pajamas or just something that wasn’t Aaron’s sweatpants. But he figured he was going to wash them later anyway, and they were comfortable, so there wasn’t any compelling reason to swap them for other clothing. But he did pull a cotton top over his head to stave off the cold. His bed looked too inviting, so Spencer placed the tea on his bedside table, and settled into the mattress. He began to read.

///

Spencer was tired. He had been awake for way too long, and his head was thumping, his bones aching. The chair in his office was uncomfortable at best, painful at worst. The lumbar region of his back was beginning to throb softly. He decided to leave early. He could grade papers in the morning. 

But on the walk from his office to his car, Derek walked over to him. “What are you doing here Derek?” He asked dryly, not in the mood.  
“I thought you could use a drink.”  
“I just want to go home.”  
“Why, someone waiting for you?” Derek smirked.  
“No. I’m tired Derek. Could we do this whole repartee thing another day?”  
“Repartee, kid?”  
“Banter, back and forth. Could it possibly happen tomorrow?”  
“Sure. Tell Aaron I said hi.” Derek left, smirking. Spencer got into his car. He didn’t often drive but he was glad that he did this morning, riding the bus would’ve sent him to sleep. 

He was back at his apartment in no time, dropping his keys into a ceramic bowl by the door, descending onto the couch. He stifled a groan when someone knocked at the door. Spencer buried his face in a pillow, trying to ignore the person at his door. But then they knocked again, harder this time. This time he did groan, and pulled himself up from the couch. 

He opened the door, his eyebrow quirking up. “Hi Spencer.” Aaron said, shifting awkwardly.   
“Hi.”  
“So I wondered if I could come in for a little bit. My uh,,, my sister-in-law Jessica is trying to set me up. Usually I would ignore her, or just go along with it. But I’ve had a long week and I figured that I did it for you… so maybe you could do it for me?”  
“Uh… I mean sure. I was actually planning on crashing. But you could use my TV. If you want.”  
“That would be great. Jess is just a little full on sometimes. She thinks that I need someone because I was with Haley for so long.”  
“Is Haley your wife?”  
“Ex-wife.” Aaron nodded. “We split up almost two years ago. But we were together for so long. Jess doesn’t think I know how to be by myself.”  
“Two years say you do.”  
“Maybe.” Aaron said sombrely as if he didn’t agree. “Sorry. You should go to bed. You look exhausted.”  
“I would take offence if I didn’t feel exhausted.”  
“Go. I’ll hang around for a few hours and then I’ll lock up and slide your keys under the door.”  
“Thanks.” Spencer’s legs began to move towards his bedroom before he was even aware of what he was doing. And he stripped down to his underwear, and climbed in bed.

Just as he was drifting off, Spencer thought he felt a presence standing by the door to his bedroom. But he shook it off, he doesn’t have a roommate. 

When he woke up, his eyes felt like sandpaper but the rest of his body felt better. He removed the blanket and stretched as he stood. There was a satisfying pop from his C3 vertebrae and he sighed. 

Spencer noticed that his TV was still on so he left the room to turn it off. He smiled when he saw Aaron snoring on the couch, the TV volume turned down low and the lights turned off. Spencer flicked the TV off and pulled a spare blanket over Aaron’s still body. He grabbed a glass of water and went back to bed smiling. 

The next morning, Aaron was gone and the blanket was folded over the back of the sofa. Spencer moved to the door, bending down to pick up his keys. And then he dropped them back in the ceramic bowl. He figured he would do some laundry, maybe wash Aaron’s sweatpants as an excuse to go see him. 

He ran down to the laundry room on the first floor of the apartment building, holding a basket which contained Spencer’s dirty clothing and Aaron’s sweatpants. One of the machines was in use, but there was a second that was free, so Spencer shoved his clothes into it and set it up. Once it began to whirr, Spencer allowed his mind to wander. 

It wandered all the way up the stairs, and into the apartment down the hall from his. Spencer thought about the dark haired, stoic federal agent who slept on his couch. His mind was flooded with images of a sleeping Aaron; hair ruffled, face creased with indentations from the sofa, and the snoring that sounded more like purring coming from his chest.

Before he knew it, the clothes were washed and dried, and he was pulling them back out into the basket. Spencer made sure the sweatpants were neatly folded. He left the basket in his apartment, and then went on to knock at Aaron’s door. 

Aaron opened the door, smiling at Spencer. “I have your sweatpants.” Spencer said awkwardly, presenting them to the older man.  
“Thanks. Do you want to come in?”  
“Do you want to date me?” Spencer blurted out.  
“I uhh… Do you want to date me?”  
“I asked first.”  
“Yes. I do.”   
“Well, I do too. I’ll see you at seven.” Spencer said adamantly.  
“I guess I’ll see you at seven.” Aaron nodded and then Spencer turned to go back to his apartment. In the confusion, Aaron had forgotten to take his pants from Spencer. Spencer awkwardly sidled back up to Aaron’s still open apartment door and passed them over. Disappearing quickly afterwards.


End file.
